Priest faces historical sex offence charge

An elderly former Anglican priest and scout leader has been charged over child sex allegations dating back 60 years.

Police say the 83-year-old Wembley Downs man sexually assaulted three boys - two aged 10 and the other 16 - in separate incidents between 1954 and 1979 while he served as an Anglican priest in Ravensthorpe and as a scout leader at Wembley.

He has been charged with two counts of indecent treatment of a child under 14 and one of committing indecent practices between males in a private place.

The man has been bailed to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on August 27.